ABSTRACT
Zooplankton are the heterogeneous assemblage of often phenotypically close but varied plankter groups; they are crucial elements of freshwater ecosystems as they occupy the center of the aquatic food web in the ecological pyramid being as an important food for almost all freshwater fishes and other aquatic species. The present analysis, first of its kind for biogeographic region of the country, includes the groupwise species composition (diversity) of zooplankton. In terms of diversity of zooplankton, the dominant group is Rotifera with 238 species followed by Copepoda (231) > Protozoa (161 species) > Cladocera (129 species) > Ostracoda with 73 species among the states of Western Ghats (WG) of India, a biological hotspot of the world. Among the zooplankton groups, a degree of overlapping of species in freshwater and estuarine ecosystems has been noticed in the present chapter, which needs to be addressed by subsequent workers.
